The Illinois State Legislature expanded the Illinois Wage Payment and Collection Act to include a new section (820 Illinois Compiled Statues 115/9.5) (“Amendment”) that now requires every Illinois employer to reimburse an employee for all “necessary expenditures or losses incurred by the employee within the employee’s scope of employment and directly related to services performed for the employer.” The Amendment became effective January 1, 2019.
“Necessary expenditures” include any reasonable expenses or losses that the employee incurs that primarily benefit the employer and are a result of the employee discharging the duties of his or her position (e.g., required travel to an off-premises work site or required usage of a personal data plan, but not an ordinary commuting expense). Importantly, the Amendment allows employers to establish written guidelines for “necessary expenditures,” and an employer is not required to reimburse any expenses exceeding those guidelines. For example, employers that reimburse for an employee’s data or Internet charges for a personal device may establish a certain limit on the amount that is reimbursable.